HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — More than a month after a wall collapsed at a North Tampa US Postal Service facility, dozens of customers of a moving company are still feeling the impacts, with their belongings stuck in storage containers.
WATCH: Wall collapse leaves moving customers without their belongings for over a month
The postal service leases one side of the warehouse, while the other is leased by 1-800-Pack-Rat, a moving company, which uses the space to store moving containers.
“Nobody’s called us, nobody’s called to apologize, nobody’s called to give a reasoning, it’s always been me calling in advocating for my family,” said Emily Prior.
Prior and her family packed almost everything from their Pinellas County home into 1-800-Pack-Rat containers, then drove to their new home in Ohio, expecting their belongings to be a couple of days behind.
“We purposely packed light because we knew we were driving across country with our dog and our little boy,” Prior added.
EMPTY HOMES, FAMILIES IN LIMBO
Prior said her family has been without most of their furniture, clothing, cooking items, and office equipment that her husband and she use for their remote jobs. She said for the past month her 7-year-old son has been sleeping on an air mattress and using a suitcase to store the few clothes he has.
“People are suffering, it’s not comfortable living in an empty home without your items.”
Abbey and Garrett Steele moved within Riverview from a townhouse to a new home.
“This was our moment,” Abbey Steele said. “This is our first real house with a yard.”
The Steeles said they stored everything with 1-800-Pack Rat while they closed on their new house, so they were left without basics like a mattress or a place to sit.
“We had to buy a couch to sleep on, we’ve had to buy so many things,” Abbey Steele said. “We are down financially because of this.”
Both families claim they’ve been waiting for almost a month without an end in sight.
“We just know that none of the workers can go inside the facility right now because it’s a safety hazard,” Garrett Steele said.
WHO’S ALLOWED INSIDE?
According to Hillsborough County, its inspectors have not barred anyone from entering the warehouse.
ABC Action News spoke with 1-800-Pack Rat’s Chief Operating Officer Kevin Barbour, who works out of the company’s North Carolina headquarters.
“On our side of the building, there is no apparent damage, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t structural compromise there,” Barbour said.
Barbour said upwards of 100 customers have moving containers that are stuck, but the warehouse currently holds close to 1,000 containers, and the number of affected customers could change in time.
Construction crews can be seen working at the warehouse. Hillsborough County records show a building permit was pulled to temporarily brace walls around the collapse. County inspectors signed off on the completion of the bracing work almost two weeks ago. Still, 1-800-Pack-Rat says it has not received clearance from the building owners.
“It’s not our decision,” Barbour said. “It’s not our building, it’s not our inspectors.”
A recent video captured by ABC Action News showed 1-800-Pack-Rat employees walking over yellow caution tape to go in and out of the warehouse, and an employee on a forklift moving containers in the warehouse.
“We do get supervised access to our printer and to our restroom,” Barbour explained when questioned about what was seen. “We were asked to go in yesterday to move a couple container so the inspectors could finish a portion of this building.”
INVESTIGATION INTO WALL COLLASPSE
The warehouse is owned by Prologis, Inc., a publicly traded real estate company based in Denver.
Hillsborough County building records indicate that the warehouse was constructed in 1998 with precast concrete exterior walls.
ABC Action News asked the county what caused the collapse and if the rest of the building is structurally safe, but were told the County doesn’t know because those aren’t things they investigate. Hillsborough County claims it’s up to the building owner to find out what happened.
A spokesperson for Prologis wouldn’t answer any questions and sent an email writing, “Safety is our top priority, and we’re currently working with our customer, 1-800-Pack-Rat, to provide expanded temporary access so they can safely reach their space.”
County building records show Prologis is having a forensic engineering investigation done, but the company won’t talk about it or how long it’s going to take.
County inspectors did cite a code violation. Records obtained by ABC Action News show the inspector didn’t note the cause and cited that, with a collapsed wall, the warehouse no longer met code.
COSTS ADDING UP
“What is anybody actually doing to make progress and get into the building?” questioned Emily Prior.
While they wait, both Prior and the Steeles say they’ve had to buy the basics or do without. Both families claim they have not received compensation from 1-800-Pack-Rat.
“I hope we can get our stuff, and I hope Pack Rat can make it right in the end,” Prior added.
According to 1-800-Pack-Rat, the company will talk about compensating customers once the containers are delivered.
“We’re committed to do everything we can to try to make the customer whole, we don’t know exactly what that is from a monetary standpoint at this point,” Barbour said.
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